Naruto: The Legacy of a Clan
by SimpleIntegrity
Summary: Two ninja discover corruption, hate, and murder plots within their own clan as a great war ensues. Awakening their kekkei genkai, they fight for the side they believe is right in the gray conflict.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N, and some background info on the story:**

 **This is my first fic, so I'm excited to publish this! Expect some errors, but still a great plot. We've got big things planned, and appreciate all suggestions.**

 **Wait, did I say "we"? That's right! I'm co-authoring this fanfiction with one of my close friends, Gigabyte. Since the story is written in third person limited, we decided to have two characters share the spotlight. We each are writing our own storylines that will intertwine near the climax of the story. To indicate that a segment is written by Gigabyte, the part will have this in its beginning:**

 **~~~~~{G}~~~~~**

 **To indicate that the segment is written by me, it will have this:**

 **~~~~~{SI}~~~~~**

 **Hopefully your much valued reviews will be more addressable to either of us. (If any reader has suggestions, we're completely open. Ideas and fixes are always welcome! If you do write a review, definitely expect a response from either Gigabyte or yours truly, and we'll try to get back to you and give you a response that shows our appreciation and any answers!)**

 **We will update this story often, so stay tuned!**

 **Enjoy reading!**

~~~~~{SI}~~~~~

The seven feet tall dark flames in front of him were a harsh warning and reminder of the inevitable danger that lay ahead of him, and the one he had just faced. After lifting the bow he was carrying and willing it to disappear, he stepped onto the intimidating flames.

When his feet touched the dark fire, it was as if the flames cowered and shrank in fear. The invincible dark flames of the Amaterasu jutsu backed down and allowed him to pass into the next room of the dungeon.

It was filled with a pool of still water which had no sense of life in it. The cavern was illuminated only by the anti-light of the receded dark flames behind him. His nose twitched as he looked to his right and saw two dead bodies.

He couldn't be... Too late?

The ninja sprinted down the pool to the other end of the cave. As his feet landed on the cold stone, the water behind him exploded. The sound nearly destroyed his eardrums, and displaced more than half of the water, some of it landing on him. Drenched, the ninja groaned and frowned. It was all a trap. A genjutsu, a trick on his mind. He rushed through the opening and moved a large stone to cover it.

The shinobi squinted and tried to find an opening, one from which real light shone. The surface had to be close to the hiding place, or the lair of the monster. Behind him, he heard the rocks being chipped away. He knew the sound was meant to scare him away, but the ninja grimaced and continued feeling his way through the rest of the wall.

As soon as his hands found a crevice, the stone behind him crumbled. He needed to hurry. Slipping down the passageway, he heard footsteps quickly approaching from behind. He turned and began weaving the hand seals for his most powerful jutsu. He squinted and could make out the image of the reptilian creature that had been chasing him. A confrontation was necessary.

"Amaterasu!" His own black fire erupted from his palms and covered the pathway behind him. His eyes flashed and everything was clear. He began to see stars but continued to sprint. He had to make time somehow...

After five minutes of sprinting like never before, his eyes deactivated and he was left in the dark again. His cheeks had been tingling for the past few minutes, so he touched them and felt the blood.

 _Normal_ , he thought. He had used Amaterasu after all. He hadn't heard the beast after he had used the jutsu on it, so he began to take note of whatever he could see in his new surroundings. Shortly after he had begun to sprint, the pathway began to widen until it reached a small chamber with three tunnels. One of them led back to the monster.

He marked it with another quick Amaterasu, this time conserving his energy and making it smaller. He picked the tunnel that came up next clockwise, and went through it. It was smaller, so he had to bend his head forward to get in.

Craning forward, he moved quickly, using the change in center of gravity to gain speed. He heard a distant roar behind him, no doubt from the monster that he was evading. His feet splashed through a dark, unknown liquid that he couldn't see due to the absence of light. Sensing something was wrong, he stopped and bent over to take a close look at the liquid that had layered the floor.

Blood. Doubts crept into the shinobi's head once again, but he stood up and continued. It meant he was getting closer... His suspicions were quickly confirmed as he saw a speck of light in the distance. He doubled his speed and dashed towards it. The light was getting closer now, but he heard the stomps of the monster behind him also incrementally growing in volume.

Another two steps, and the wall behind him exploded. He just kept running, and didn't look back. He was in close proximity to the light now, which seemed to be another opening into another cave. The landscape was becoming increasingly rocky and dirty as opposed to the smooth, stone tunnel that it had been before.

The monster suddenly stopped its stomping.

The ninja didn't like being left in the dark. Activating his eyes once again, he immediately felt a pang of dizziness. He was able to see the beast off in the distance, bending down to see the floor where he had been standing only moments ago.

He turned back around and sprinted towards the room, letting his eyes return to normal. After reaching the light, he squeezed through the hole to find his mother, father, and village neighbors cowering in corners.

Unfortunately, the beast had caught on and had reached the hole only moments after the ninja. The wall was slowly crumbing. The ninja knew that this moment was crucial to him and his loved ones. He began weaving the hand seals for Amaterasu, but it was too late. The beast crushed the wall into a million pieces and stepped over it.  
For the first time, the ninja had a good look at his pursuer. The monster was tall, reaching about seven feet in height. It glowed with a purple aura, which the ninja guessed was from the chakra. It had a horrendous face, with yellow eyes and a snake-like tongue. It was missing a nose, and its reptilian skin looked rough and purplish-black. The serpentine beast looked like a dragon, but walked with its feet in the cave rather than flying. Its stomps created small imprints in the cave system s floor.

The ninja let out a small breath. "Amaterasu!" The black flames released from his palm once again and landed on the beast's body.

There was no doubt about it. Someone had summoned the monster to chase him and track him down. He frowned as the black flames slowly killed the beast. It shouldn't have been this easy if the beast had been giving him this much trouble... Suddenly the beast disappeared into a puff of smoke and shurikens flew behind him, landing in the village elders. This had to be planned. By killing the most respected people in the village, the assassin would lower the overall morale of the group, thus making everyone an easier target. The shock had to slow them down, as well.

Why did he go scouting in the first place? Why today, of all days? He had just brought trouble back for everyone. He didn't turn back to see the damage that the shurikens had done. He could hear the screams and wails of his fellow villagers behind him.

He charged towards the puff of smoke to see where the attacker could have gone. As he expected, he didn't find any trace of a human, but there obviously had been one here some time back. The dark flames that were covering the remains abruptly dissipated on his command, leaving the room dark.

And then all hell broke loose.

Only three shurikens were fired. They were lit up with the same black "anti"-light as the flames of his Amaterasu, but they lacked the same chakra that normal shinobi used.

The shurikens suddenly split into hundreds and every single one met their target. The entire group of villagers were killed within the blink of an eye. Including his parents, his close friends, and his role models. They were just gone, and he couldn't get them back. The moment was lost.

Behind him, he felt the presence of the murderer. Dark chakra seemed to emanate from him, and the killer intent was palpable. Without looking, the shinobi let rage overtake him. He began to shiver as the emotions hit him like a guillotine, slicing his mind over and over again.

"Why... Why did you do it?" The ninja let the anger creep into his voice as the emotion slowly overtook the initial shock that he had felt. His arms fall to his side, limp and emotionless. His voice came out as a croak, but still didn't do justice to his sadness and sorrow.

"They rebelled. You all rebelled. In order to secure the power of the beasts, every traitor must be slain." The ninja couldn't understand the response. The drawling voice taunted the shinobi, almost provoking him into fight.

"What-What about me? Why haven't you killed me heartlessly, like you have... Like you killed the rest of my comrades?"

"You aren't a traitor. You're pure blooded."

As confusion struck the shinobi's mind, a heavy object slammed into him and he fell forwards. Darkness enveloped all, and that was the last time that the shinobi saw his family.

~~~~~{G}~~~~~

He strained his small neck as he tried to look around the room. Mitsuru could hear a woman sobbing from somewhere. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't move. Panicking, Mitsuru began to cry. Loud wails echoed within the small walls of the room.

He heard a man scoff, "Great, the brat is crying." I m gonna go outside, woman. Stay where you are, or else The sobbing quieted down after a few seconds. Then, he heard the woman whisper, I m sorry . Then, a bright flash of light blinded Mitsuru. He was falling in a black void. He heard the woman's sobbing echoing around him. Mitsuru heard the man's cackle. The two sounds echoed louder and louder until his brain pounded. His ears couldn't handle the sound. His heart pounded, and he couldn't breathe. He heard his own crying filling the air. A loud beeping noise started driving him insane.

Mitsuru suddenly awoke from the nightmare as he fell flat on his face. Groaning, he groped around trying to find the blaring alarm clock. When he found it, he groggily found the snooze button and pressed it with whatever energy he had. Rubbing his eyes, Mitsuru looked around his room. There were clothes strewn everywhere. He picked up a t-shirt, looked at it briefly, and threw it away. It landed near his small desk on top of a couple books. Other books were stuffed in cabinets and shelves. His dresser was opposite his bed. He looked in the mirror that was propped up against the wall, dangerously balancing on his dresser. He saw his sleepy face and brown eyes squinting back at him. His messy black hair was sticking out in multiple places. He wasn't necessarily athletic, but he was fit, which came with being a shinobi. Mitsuru saw that his mom put out clothes for him at the end of his bed. The clothes were a purple t-shirt and jeans, with his trademark black jacket on top. He put them on, and looked around for his ninja headband. He found it on his bed, close to where it was. He must've slept with it in his hand. Grinning at the thought of him clutching onto the headband for dear life through his forgotten nightmare, Mitsuru looked at the time: 7:55 a.m.

His heart leapt to his throat. His sensei had told him to be at their regular training grounds by 8! Frantically, Mitsuru took the stairs three at a time, and burst out of the house while grabbing a piece of toast and hastily letting his mother know that he was leaving. He wolfed the slice down and jumped onto the nearest rooftop and began leaping from roof to roof, determined to get there on time. He saw other shinobi doing the same, except on the streets like normal people. He felt a tiny pang of envy since he noticed that none of them were rushing like him.

Mitsuru glanced at his watch. 7:58 a.m. He looked ahead, and was able to see the training grounds ahead. He spotted two figures in the clearing. He burst forward with renewed effort. He leapt from the final two rooftops and then onto the ground, where he sprinted the final few meters to the clearing. He casually approached the two figures up ahead. He managed to make out the figures face. He recognized them as his two squadmates.

First there was Hoshiko. Her face was easier to notice. Mitsuru's small crush on her enabled him to sense her a mile away. Her beautiful face was smirking as she watched Mitsuru. Hoshiko was about as tall as Mitsuru and was watching him with her bright green eyes. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail that reached all the way down to her waist. Changing her expression to one of annoyance, she told Mitsuru as he reached her, "You barely made it, It's 7:59 a.m."

"Yeah, Sensei's gonna chew you out," added Katsuo. Katsuo was... well, he was hard to describe. Mitsuru was slightly jealous of him. He was handsome with a perfect jawline and structured face, and had an amazing body to boot. All of the girls that he had met seemed to somehow fall in love with him. Hoshiko was no exception. She seemed to always blush around him. And it seemed Katsuo reciprocated those feelings.

Mitsuru panted, "Yeah, yeah, well, he's not here yet, so I m probably fine."

"Are you now?" Mitsuru whirled around and saw...nothing. Katsuo and Hoshiko wore the same expressions on their faces.

The same voice chuckled and suddenly, the air in front of Mitsuru crumbled. From the rubble emerged Mitsuru's sensei.

"Takeshi-Sensei!" Mitsuru gasped.

In his mind, Mitsuru realized how dumb he was. Sensei had his Camouflage Stone Dome Jutsu. He had seen him use it multiple times, but he had still forgotten that his sensei could be anywhere. He looked up at Takeshi-Sensei's face. His war-hardened face smirked at him, the scar on his mouth stretching. His grey eyes locked onto Mitsuru's, picking out the guilt in his eyes. He shook his bald head and said, "You were nearly late, you should know better than to sleep that late."

Mitsuru mumbled, "Yes, sir." Takeshi nodded.

He continued. "Alright, as I'm sure you know, we have one week left until chunin exams. I hope you've been training hard."

A stone seemed to have dropped in Mitsuru's stomach. He had completely forgot about the exams. "Judging by the looks of Mitsuru, our benevolent savior, that is a no." Takeshi said.

Hoshiko and Katsuo roared with laughter. Mitsuru felt pretty embarrassed, but Takeshi always made sure to make someone feel ashamed.

"Moving on," He said, shaking his head. "For this entire week, you will be given the whole day to train. I've sectioned off parts of the forest for you. You each get ten square miles of forest to practice on. Put 'em to use," he grunted.

Then, he lead us each to our squares. Hoping for an advantage, Mitsuru looked around at his trees. They were average, not looking abnormal at all. Even so, he was at a disadvantage. He was a fire-style user so if he used a fire style jutsu on a tree, he wouldn't be able to stop the fire that resulted from it. Hoshiko was a wind-style user and Katsuo was an earth-style user. Neither of them had to deal with fear of a forest fire... Mitsuru's trees would just burn down. Mitsuru sighed, and sat down on a nearby rock. He didn't know what he should work on. He listed off the jutsus he knew in his head: Fireball Jutsu, Phoenix Flower Jutsu, Dragon Fire Jutsu, Crimson Chains Jutsu, and Ember Clone Jutsu. Five. Mitsuru had five Jutsus. He shook his head. Unbelievable. That was nothing compared to his peers. He got up and decided to practice as hard as he could. He needed an edge on the competition somehow, right?

The day went by pretty quickly. The only exciting parts were when Mitsuru nearly died because he was blown into the air by a gust of wind (no doubt from Hoshiko) and had to painfully choreograph a landing in a nearby canopy to protect himself. Then, he had to sprint away as a wave of solid earth nearly slammed into him, destroying nearly a quarter of his trees (again, no doubt from his other so-called teammate, Katsuo). Then, Mitsuru managed to destroy three massive trees with a single Fireball Jutsu.

The sky was pink and orange when Mitsuru finally decided to go home. "I'm home!" Mitsuru called.  
"Late as always. Your mother said 7. It's 7:03." The response was short and sweet. Well, not too sweet.

Mitsuru groaned inwardly. It was his grandmother, knitting some purple cloth on a chair by the furnace. Mitsuru lived with his grandmother and mother. Grandmother Fuzuki had always been strict, even when Mitsuru was young. She was his paternal grandmother. Her gray curly hair fell over her face a lot. She had a tan, wrinkled face, and cold blue eyes that always seem to judge him.

"I'm sorry, Grandmother," Mitsuru muttered.

She didn't respond.

"Mitsuru?" A sleepy voice said.

Smiling, Mitsuru saw his mother in her green pajamas, with Hidden Leaf symbols. Her black hair fell down on her shoulders and a bit on her face. Her brown eyes were crinkled in a smile. Mitsuru went over and hugged her.

"How was training?" She asked him.

Mitsuru went over the events of the day in reflection. With a sad look on his face, he added, "But I only know five Jutsus..."

Mother laughed. "I'm sure you'll be fine, you have strong Jutsus." Mitsuru nodded, unconvinced.

Grandmother seemed to have stopped knitting. Mitsuru looked over to find Grandmother staring at him, with a look of... pride? No, it couldn't be. Grandmother noticed Mitsuru looking at her. She went back to knitting.

They ate dinner. When Mitsuru went to bed, he found something surprising on his desk: a book. Even stranger, it was a book he hadn't seen before. It had a red cover with gold writing saying _Jutsus of the Shinobi World._

Mitsuru picked it up, and opened it, and flipped through it. It was amazing. It gave descriptions of the Jutsu, gave the class where it could be mastered, the name, and all of the Jutsus were organized alphabetically and by chakra nature. For the next hour, Mitsuru flipped through the book and chose Jutsus he liked. He decided on two. The first: Blaze Rush. The book put it as this:

 **Jutsu: Blaze Rush**

 **Class: Chunin**

 **Description: The user performs the aforementioned hand signs and must release large amounts of chakra from their body. However, it must be distributed equally around the body, or the user is at risk of burning themselves. If performed successfully, the user should be wrapped in flames. The flames can be used as a weapon and as a defense. The user's strength is amplified by the flames. Users must remember that damage is reduced rather than increased when used against people with an affinity for Water Style. A stream of chakra must always be maintained to keep the flames going. It is directly proportional to the intensity of the flames surrounding the body.**

The Jutsu would be useful to Mitsuru, he like being fast. He preferred quick battles, anyways. The next was the Flame Pillar Technique. The book put it as:

 **Jutsu: Flame Pillar Technique**

 **Class: Chunin**

 **Description: The user performs the aforementioned hand signs and a spinning ring of fire appears in their hand. The user proceeds to throw the ring. Where it lands, a pillar of flame stretching nearly 50 feet high appears. If the target gets trapped inside, they will quickly overheat and pass out from the intense flames. Even if, the target is not trapped inside, the user can hit the target head on, causing a miniature explosion.**

This one Mitsuru liked a lot. He could prepare and rest a little if the target was trapped inside, maybe even make them pass out. It was a perfect technique to stall with.

Mitsuru rubbed his bleary eyes. He was exhausted. As he was closing the book, he noticed handwriting in dark red ink in the back of the book. It read:

Jutsu: Inferno Fist

Class: Jonin

Description: This Jutsu is extremely powerful and can instantly kill an opponent when used by a skilled shinobi. First, the user must draw a seal on their hand. The seal is pictured below. Then, chakra must be emitted from the hand making a small fire. The more chakra that the user uses, the more flames appear. When the flame reaches its desired size, the user must close their hand. If performed correctly, the hand will be lit on fire, signalling the completion of the Jutsu. Next objective: Strike the Target.

 _This is odd_ , Mitsuru thought. First of all, it was handwritten. Clearly, this meant that the Jutsu wasn't part of the book originally. It was probably written by someone who was trying to test it out, or share their own creation. But who? Secondly, the person who wrote it tried to make it sound like an amazing Jutsu. They wanted people to imagine how awesome it would be, like not explaining what happens when the target gets hit, or when they blatantly say how powerful this jutsu. It was probably written by a child, maybe a teenager, or even someone with little writing experience. But who?  
Mitsuru rubbed his eyes again. He decided that he would worry about it later. He threw the book on the desk and let the irresistible waves of sleep take him.


	2. Chapter 2: Fake Friends, Real Enemies

~~~~~{SI}~~~~~

The ninja awoke in a dark room with almost no light. A splitting headache made it hard to focus. Once it passed he noticed a small window opening to the sky was right above him, showing stars past a lonely branch. Rubbing his eyes and lifting his chest off of the bed, he took a closer look at it. Upon inspection, he found that it was actually a glass window that was so clear that it was completely transparent.

He felt a small pang in the back of his head, signaling the return of the headache.

"Ugh. I probably have a concussion," he croaked. His raspy voice came out with a few cracks, but seemed to be undamaged.

"So who are you, fellow prisonmate?"

The ninja jumped as his head quickly swiveled in the direction of the voice.

Ouch! He felt his neck burst into flames as he pulled what felt like all of the muscles in there. Rubbing it, he continued to peer in the dark.

"Take it easy. I'm in here for eternity as well." This time, the voice came from closer to him.

A face appeared in the ninja's peripheral vision, but the ninja didn't dare look at it.

"Who are you? I'm Izo." The ninja spoke with smoothly with no vocal problems.

"I see. I am Tetsuya Kemono. They put me in here after a… traumatic event. They came and talked to me a couple times, interrogated me for their own reasons, then just left me in here to rot. They give us rations every day once, and the amount that they give us just went up by about 50%. I've been feeding you a liquid amalgamation of the fantastic food we have for the past three days. You've been out cold." The man moved a little closer and revealed a pale face with equally pale hair. The man had bushy eyebrows with a scar going from his arm to his jaw.

"What-What happened to you?" Izo's eyes narrowed at the sight of the scar. "And did you say Kemono? I'm also from the Kemono Clan."

"As I suspected, then. Are you the only survivor from your village?"

"Yes, I am. You haven't answered my question."

"This is what they did to me," Tetsuya said with a grimace on his face. His eyes seemed to glow with a pink aura for a moment, but it didn't last for long. He didn't seem too happy about what they had done to him. "Tell me, what do you know of our clan?" His facial expression loosened.

"I hail from a small village in which we have a sizable population of Kemono clan members. We live in-lived in an area, and the elders of the village use to frequently visit us. We were the "protectors" of the village, and we trained while the other citizens went to school. I do know that we have a kekkei genkai-" Izo was interrupted before he could continue.

"That's right. This kekkei genkai is the root of our problems. The people that inhabit this area are members of the pure-blood branch, meaning that all of their immediate family members would be members of the clan. They did this to limit the disappearance of our kekkei genkai, but they also began to kidnap and turn on the members of the clan that married outsiders." Tetsuya grimly continued, "Whenever they find a substantial population of the clan's members, they assassinate them all and bring back one survivor: usually one who's father and mother are members of the clan."

"So does that mean that we are some of the last survivors of our clan?" Izo was shocked. He hadn't known that the clan's members existed outside of his small village.

"That's right. Well, we don't know for sure. The hunt is still on," Tetsuya concluded, holding his serious face. Then he sniffed the air, and seemed to be lost in thought for a few seconds. "Tell me, have you been able to use your kekkei genkai? You do not seem to be emanating the energy that one with an unlocked kekkei genkai gives off."

"Yeah, the village was attacked some time before I would have been able to understand its powers. I actually don't know anything about it." Izo held back tears at the thought of his past.

Things will never be the same now, he thought to himself. It certainly hadn't been for Tetsuya.

"Hmm. I should be able to give you the training that you need here, then."

"Are you serious?" He leaned forward in spite of himself. "Tell me more!" Izo's spirit was renewed with vigor at the thought of establishing his kekkei genkai. It would be a memento of his family.

"Yes. You should recover first." Izo's new relative turned to return to his sanction of the room.

"Tetsuya, wait! Where are we?" The question that Izo had been wondering all along finally came out. How had these clan members hidden themselves so well?

Stopping, Tetsuya turned to answer with a dejected face. "I haven't been able to figure that out in my years of imprisonment. They only took me out of this cell four times, with three of them being a visit to the leader of the clan." He turned and began to crawl to his corner of the room.

Izo took note of the layout of the room. There were three mats, one for Tetsuya, one for him, and one that was presumably for the food and drink. Near the third mat were the bars which made up a wall and had a barred door on it. A fire jutsu probably wouldn't be able to melt the metal, let alone do any significant damage. The metal seemed to be powerful and chakra absorbent.

Izo channeled a little bit of chakra into his hand and touched the bars. As expected, the chakra quickly dissipated.

As soon as Tetsuya's back touched the wall opposite to Izo, they heard a huge commotion from down the hall outside of their cell. A white-haired man wearing a white robe appeared beyond the bars, and looked straight at Izo. Chills ran down Izo's spine.

"We want you, young man. Tetsuya, don't move." His voice was commanding, and Izo felt an urge to immediately stand and comply, but he stopped himself.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Izo's voice held enough presence to echo in the halls, but betrayed the fear and anxiety that he was feeling inside.

"You don't need to know that. We hold the power in this situation, so there is no negotiations. You will comply or you and your filthy roommate, Tetsuya, will face the wrath of my beast!" The man's voice slowly escalated from an angry whisper to a yell. Obviously he wasn't in a good mood.

"Fine." Izo glanced at Tetsuya, who was holding his head in his hands, and then moved to the door which opened when his captor said, "Open, gate of hell!"

Izo stepped out and saw a hallway lit with torches at the end. His captor pushed him along as he stumbled along the dimly lit pathway.

"Wh-where are we?" Izo's voice didn't come out like it normally did. His uneasy steps combined with the musty smell of the prison was finally getting to him.

"Next time you ask that question, it'll be worse." The captor clearly wasn't happy as he swung his dark staff (that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere). It hit Izo's legs, causing him to fall to the ground and hastily pick himself up.

As they reached the end of the hallway, more and more guards seemed to come out of the paths that turned left and right just outside the doorway. Izo counted eight guards, four on each side. As Izo and the man behind him marched out of the hallway that his cell was in, the four guards tightly covered Izo, hiding everything from him and him from everything.

Izo had been unable to get a good look at the hallways that went to the left and right, but this new hallway definitely had better lighting. There was actually carpet underneath him, dyed some deep blue color. This room had a more steely feeling. After just another six paces, the group of ten entered another doorway, this time swerving towards the right and passing by another door.

After a couple more awkward turns, Izo really had no idea where he was, except for the fact that after they had entered the big hall, they had turned right, then left, then left again twice, then right twice. Or maybe there was another left in there...

The eight guards loosened, and shuffled away from Izo and the other man. Izo noticed that they were now in a giant circular dome, and there were only two doors. He assumed that the one behind him was where he had come from.

There was an array of eerie blue torches here that illuminated the room with an ominous blue glow. Entry past the other side of the dome was blocked by an iron door, which seemed to be soundproof as well. No noises could be heard from the room past the door.

Why have they brought me here… Izo thought, as the guards and his captor murmured amongst themselves.

His captor turned towards him and began talking. "My name is Akihide, and you are my prisoner. The reason that I captured you and killed your village was because-"

"Sir! It is time! The water and machines are all perfectly set in position. The measurements were handy." A new person had appeared from the other doorway. The person was fully clothed in a black and white uniform that consisted of a toga and a mask that wrapped around their head. The person was wearing an odd headband, similar to the ones that envoys from the bigger Hidden Villages wore.

Upon inspection, Izo deduced the headband to have a symbol that showed two wavy lines with a couple of drops underneath it. He looked at the guards around him, and noticed that each of them wore the symbol in a small badge on their arms.

"Hmph. I guess we'll just deal with this later. If this whole thing goes well," Akihide grumbled. He turned to his guards to give them a quick order, and they all left the room. Akihide turned to leave as well. "Good luck, kid. Best to pray for yourself." Akihide turned, shuffled out of the room, and slammed the door behind him.

Right before the door closed shut, Izo noticed Akihide turn left. That might be useful info if they were to trap him here.

"You're going to need to come with us then."

Izo complied with the man's orders, and walked in quietly. The next room was obviously a lab of some sorts. There were vials and large containers filled with an assortment of colored liquids, and a big cask in the other side of the room was filled with the liquids. Inside it, there were quite a few wires. Since Izo and the odd researcher just kept walking past all the other strange tools and potions, he assumed that they were headed there.

But why would they perform a surgery… on a captive?

Izo questioningly turned to the scientist, halting their movement. "Why are you… Doing this to me?" Izo's inquisitive tone seemed to make the other man's eyes dance and light up.

"Ah. You must be a smart one. That must mean you've heard of Scientist Akihiko? World famous for his research on the brain? That's right. You're facing him right now! The members of this clan hired me some months back for this exact surgery! I've collaborated with Oro-I mean, another great scientist, who has helped me get this far." The man somehow said everything in one breath, and made too many expressions while talking. It was as if he was letting out the emotions that he had refrained from showing to Akihide earlier.

"So, what surgery are you doing? Something with my brain?"

"Sorry! I'm not supposed to tell you that! But I'll be extra careful. You've earned my good care."

"What-?"

"Come on now, into the cask!"

Izo was pushed up a couple of stairs that allowed his to enter the bottle.

"As soon as you enter, you have to take the oxygen mask and put it on. Then press the button. After you do that, just close your eyes."

Izo followed the directions, accidentally falling into the box in curiosity. A dreadful feeling was coming into his stomach…

Under the green liquid, he was able to move his arms faster than he was able to on land. He quickly put on the mask and closed his eyes, awaiting the next directions.

After he pressed the button on the mask, the green liquid that was trapped inside was emptied, and oxygen began to flow into the mask. It was nice and cool, almost delirious. He tasted cookies… But he groggily saw Scientist Akihiko pressing another button, then watching him.

His eyes fell shut as the oxygen, or anesthesia, put him to sleep.

~~~~~{G}~~~~~

When Mitsuru woke up, he was pumped and ready to work. He rushed everything. He clambered off of his bed and stuffed his clothes on. He whirled around looking for...there. The red book from last night. He grabbed it and hid it inside his jacket. He didn't even take the stairs, he just leapt down into the kitchen. He flashed a quick grin at his alarmed mother before grabbing more toast (Seriously? Again?) and running to his wood section. He glanced at the other parts on top of the canopy. He saw this stone emblem from what had to be from Katsuo. That's Katsuo for you, finding a way to announce himself. He had a ton of confidence, almost a swagger.

Katsuo used a Jutsu called Terra Reformation Jutsu. He would be able manipulate the earth around him. He always did have a gargantuan amount of chakra.

He looked at the other side, noticing several trees violently shaking. He felt a light gust of wind from that area, but that was several miles away. That area was where Hoshiko trained. She used several different Jutsus, too many that Mitsuru couldn't name all of them. Most of them were small, changing the way her wind worked, but they quickly added up, becoming a frenzy of gusts, analogous to a hurricane.

With a mischievous smile on his face, Mitsuru reached inside his jacket, and pulled out the Jutsu book. His mother and especially his grandmother always had a rule of no family books outside the house, they felt that the books would be ruined. It felt nice to be rebellious.

Mother looked at Grandmother and said, "You saw the book, right?"

Grandmother gave her a rare smile. "Yes. He really thinks us old people are that brainless."

Mother chuckled. "I wonder which one he took?"

Grandmother started at that, saying, "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, what damage could it do?"

"If you say so….and are you almost done with it? The exams are in a few days."

"Yes, it will be done soon."

Mitsuru sat down on the same rock as yesterday and flipped to the pages on the book. Now, for the first Jutsu: Flame Pillar. This one should be easier. The book wrote down the hand signs needed. He performed the hand signs and suddenly a blazing fire appeared in his hands. Mitsuru yelled and waved his hands and the flames went out.

Mitsuru furrowed his brow. What to do...it was just a small fire. He could add more chakra, and it'd be bigger, but that wouldn't make too much progress. He could vaguely remember Sensei Takeshi talking about changes in chakra form, but Mitsuru had been lolling around then. What if he had listened? He slapped his cheeks. He needed to get it together. Whatif's aren't going to help. He needed to find someone to ask….maybe….no, no way, how could she help? What would she know? Still, Mitsuru found himself running back home.

When he arrived, he yelled, "Grandmother!"

"No need to yell that loud, boy, I'm right here!"

Mitsuru groaned inwardly. He walked into the sitting room, to find grandmother knitting the same purple….thing. What was it? Mitsuru would ask later.

"Hey, Grandmother, I was just wondering, do you know how to change chakra form?"

Grandmother stopped knitting. "Well, let's see. And just so you know, I was a good ninja in my day. I survived the Fourth Great Ninja War."

Mitsuru knew this, Grandmother told him this all the time, usually as a way of teaching Mitsuru respect, but Mitsuru tried imagining Grandmother as a shinobi, and shuddered.

"What?" Grandmother's face was pinched into a confused look. She was obviously wondering why Mitsuru was laughing.

"Nothing."

"Anyways, changing the form of chakra is quite difficult. The easiest way to do it is finding an object that can represent it. Did you know Lord Hokage used water balloons and rubber balls to learn the Rasengan? He used a base object that can represent it. Try that."

Mitsuru nodded. This was the first time Grandmother gave him true advice. He decided he should trust her.

He turned around around and promptly got smacked in the face by something. He heard his mother shriek. After he insisted he was fine. He saw what hit him. It was a frisbee, with the design of the Yin-Yang.

"I saw it at the shop, and thought it would be nice to play. Watch."

He threw the disc, but it stood still, in place, the Yin-Yang whirling around.. But Mitsuru wasn't paying attention. He was looking at the design. Spinning in place….spinning….Spinning! Flame Pillar. It was a spinning ring of fire.

"Hey, Mom, can I have it really quick? For today?"

"Er...sure," she said with uncertainty.

Mitsuru snatched it out of the air and ran all the way back to his training grounds in his excitement. He had found his base object.

"He's been very restless lately. He's only thirteen and he's already intense about the exams," Mother said.

Grandmother looked at her. "Then you understand what must happen?"

"Mother, not now! He's too young!"

"He's thirteen and old enough to understand. He needs to know. Do you wish for him to hate you for not telling you about it?"

"Listen, I'll….I'll tell him after he becomes a chunin, alright?"

"Very well. Be sure to tell him. He has a right to know."

"But….let's alter it. Let's say it was...what we discussed, alright?"

"Aila, you fool…..very well, but when he becomes jonin, then you tell him the whole truth."

"Fine…."

Mitsuru threw the frisbee. Again, it spun in place. The Yin-Yang became a blur of black and white. Mitsuru performed the hand-signs again.

"Flame Pillar Jutsu!"

The flames appeared, but as Mitsuru stared at the frisbee, it began to move. First a little to the right. Then, a little to the left. Then, it was like a miniature tornado of fire appeared. It began to spin rapidly until….

"Hey there, sleepyhead."

Startled, Mitsuru's concentration broke. The tornado fell apart. Irritated, Mitsuru looked around and saw Hoshiko. Like always, his breath seemed to disappear from his lungs. His brain also decides to go on vacation on these precious few moments.

"Oh, er…hey," he stuttered.

Hoshiko walked over. "Why are you using a frisbee? Seems to be cheap, and it's obviously not very helpful. But I shouldn't expect any more from you."

Mitsuru was stung by this, but he still couldn't be too mad.

"Well, just thought I'd check on you. See you later. Oh, and I'd give you luck at the Chunin exams, but you probably won't need it. It's a lost cause anyway."

She left, throwing her hair back over her shoulders.

Mitsuru sighed. Hoshiko always had been venomous to him.

He tried again. And again. And again. And again. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't make it work.

"Come on!" he yelled at the tornado in his hand. "This has to work!"

His fury and frustration seemed to be coming out. For years, he had been the one at school people never looked at twice. His mother was kind, but he had seen the look of disappointment her face held at times.

"Why! Won't! You! Work!" he bellowed. The fire from within him seemed to be equaling the fire that he was producing.

When nothing worked, he finally roared in anger. That's when the change happened. The tornado started to settle. It worked its way to the edges, becoming a ring. The ring began to spin extremely fast, flinging sparks occasionally.

Amazed, he hurled it at the nearest tree. The book didn't lie. The ring exploded, leaving a ring of fire left behind. The fire seemed to leap for the sky immediately, and looked to be at least as tall as a two story house.

Mitsuru walked near it, staring in awe. After about five minutes, the fire stopped, leaving behind a pile of ashes. He whooped with joy. He had figured out the Jutsu.

It was getting darker as he thought about it, so Mitsuru decided to head home.

For all of the next day, Mitsuru practiced his Flame Pillar Jutsu, which was coming along quite nicely now. He couldn't seem to get the hang of Blaze Rush though. It was only three days before the exams before Mitsuru realized: his last jutsu. He still had to figure out Inferno Fist. He had to find a seal. So, Mitsuru began to draw seals in his free time. But none of them seemed to "click." But something strange happened one day.

He was working on a seal with tons of papers. So far, he had a circle with a "Z" inside it, with circles instead of corners. It felt partially complete, since this is the basic structure design, but all of his other seals didn't working, only giving him an uncontrollable blaze. Then kunai sliced through the air, leaving a small cut on Mitsuru's arm. Mitsuru dropped his pencil in pain. He turned around. He saw Katsuo and Hoshiko. Katsuo was spinning another kunai, smirking. He noticed they were surprisingly close.

"Jeez guys, way to scare me like that."

"Sorry, I just wanted to hit that tree. Guess my aim wasn't as good," said Katsuo. Hoshiko snickered slightly. What was going on?

They walked away.

She looked back, making sure nobody was around, then nodded at the boy.

He put his hands together and said, "Release." Instead of Hoshiko and Katsuo, they became completely different people. A girl with long blonde hair and stark red eyes and a completely bald man with eyes as black as a starless night sky stood, covered by the smoke that resulted from the transformation. They both wore black clothing and no headbands.

"See?" the girl said as she threw some of her hair behind her ears. "He isn't too great at the moment, maybe we should let him train past Chunin."

"No." The man said with a stone face. "Master said we take him now. We must wait, however, simply plucking him now would not be advised."

"Alright fine. But can we go back now? These clothes are way too tight, don't you think?"

"You picked them for that reason. Come," The man said as he walked away.

"Hey, what a-what are you accusing me of?" Her cheeks became the shade of her eyes.

This was the second time one of them hurt him in some way in the past few days. Mitsuru put the thought from his head when he felt something on his arm. He looked down and saw three drops of blood making his way down his arm. It reached his hand. Mitsuru looked at the sky, gauging how much time he had left in the day.

Then, he felt something. He looked back down. The blood drew three lines through the circle. Mitsuru fed the seal his chakra. Again, the fire came. But this one wasn't out of control. It was calm in the only way fire could be calm. Mitsuru gave it more and more chakra. The flame grew to the size of Mitsuru's head. He grinned, and closed his fist.

The flames flew into the air and, after becoming small strands, flew into Mitsuru's hand. His hand had become a glowing ball of fire, with occasional strands of fire orbiting the ball. The fire was heating the very air around him. He looked around, finding the biggest tree.

He needed to destroy it. It was Grandmother and mother's shackling resentment, Hoshiko's venomous hate, Katsuo's infuriating swagger. It was every bit of anger and loss he'd faced. He readied his fist. This. This would prove to everyone that he was something, that he was someone. With every bit of his power, he threw his fist….

….and immediately cried out in pain as he seemingly broke his hand. Wincing, he looked at the tree. Nothing. Not even a scorch mark. The tree was perfectly fine. Cradling his hand, he walked to the tree. What in the world just happened? The book said the Jutsu would be ready at that point.

Well, it was handwritten, Mitsuru thought.

Disappointed, Mitsuru realized the day was almost over. He lumbered back home, feeling terrible.

"Want some dinner, honey?" his mother called.

"I'm not hungry, I'll be fine," Mitsuru lied.

He collapsed on his bed. Why? Why wouldn't it work?" Mitsuru thought. His exhausted self decided to go to sleep.

"I'm heading to sleep, Mom." he said.

She frowned. "No dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

That night, Mitsuru had a dream. He saw the tree from the morning. Grandmother's face appeared from the trunk. He stumbled back and got caught by Hoshiko and Katsuo. Takeshi's face appeared over him. He opened his mouth and Mitsuru was falling in the same void as a couple days ago. The beeping returned. Mitsuru woke up (thankfully) in his bed. He looked over. It was 6 a.m. Today was the day. It was the dawn of the Chunin exams. His stomach started doing some extreme gymnastics. He tried getting up, but had to clutch the nearby disk from nauseousness from the prospect of the chunin exams.

He layed back down on his bed. The sheets were strewn on the floor. He must have tossed and turned in his sleep. He reviewed over what the exams would consist of: a written exam first. Mitsuru was confident on this one. He pays attention to Sensei Takeshi's lessons, though Hoshiko and Katsuo just talk and laugh while Sensei talks. The next task was always mystery: it was different every year. Mitsuru thought about what it could be and sometimes trained for those possibilities. The final task was the same each year: it was a tournament. This one was the one Mitsuru worried about. First of all, he had no idea of how powerful the other shinobi from different villages. Second, he knew that the shinobi from the Hidden Leaf were extremely powerful. Finally, he would get more and more tired as he went along. He sighed and ruffled his hair. He decided to get dressed. Grandmother and Mother were waiting downstairs for him. They were smiling at him.

"Mitsuru, dear, come on over."

Baffled, Mitsuru walked over. Then, Grandmother held something out. Mitsuru finally realized what Grandmother was sewing.

It was a cloak. A purple cloak, that felt like silk. Mitsuru put it on. He walked around, noticing the cloak barely scraping the floor. He walked past the window. It shimmered in the sunlight, almost like a mirage. It felt cool, even though it was a warm spring morning.

He grinned. He lived it. He turned around, and saw an even bigger smile from Grandmother. He looked at the kitchen clock. 6:25 am. He looked at them and said, "Time to go? Are you guys going to watch?"

They nodded. Mitsuru went outside and leapt to the nearest roof. He saw the smoke signal by the forest. He jumped from roof to roof again.

He reached the forest. There were several other people ambling around, maybe about 80. Even then, a couple stragglers stumbled in. The proctor cleared his throat, and this was Mitsuru's first look it him.

He had completely black hair, stretching down to his waist. He had a mask covering the bottom half of his face. Wonder what's under there, Mitsuru thought. The proctor stared around, still waiting for silence.

"My name is Sasokami. I expect constant attention from you. Anything else will not be tolerated."

Mitsuru kept rapt attention. He knew these people were serious. Everyone else followed suit.

Sasokami nodded. "Now, as some of you know, day one of the Chunin exams will be a written exam. First, we need a place to take it. Formation Team!"

Several shinobi that were around the forest bellowed, "Earth Formation Jutsu!"

The ground started rumbling. He was starting to lose his footing. Everyone seemed to move from him. No, they were moving from him. The team used the earth beneath them. All around him, shinobi were faltering and stumbling. Once it was finished, there were several tables of stone with chairs made of wood and leaves. There were even pencils with paper and a calculator already on them.

"Find a seat and sit down until further notice."

Mitsuru found a seat. To his left, was Hoshiko. But she wasn't looking at him, she was smiling at Katsuo, cracking jokes with his friends. Looking away, Mitsuru saw this massive, dark-skinned boy with arms like tree trunks. He saw him looking. He simply smirked and looked away.

"Attention!"

Mitsuru looked at Sasokami.

"You may begin the test!"

Mitsuru blinked, startled. No notice at all? Mitsuru thought. He didn't think too much of it. He began the first question:

A shinobi is sitting in a tree, ready to throw a shuriken at a target that is 150 feet away on a tree that is five feet above the ground. The shuriken's path can be described as -16x2 + 8x + 50. How long until the shinobi hits the tree? Round to the nearest thousandth if necessary.

Pfft, easy enough, he thought. He punched the numbers into the calculator and put 1.964 seconds on the paper.

On and on it went, over twenty pages front and back, with lunch and dinner served between intervals, until….

 _A general is placed with a predicament. He has 100 troops going against 200 troops. The 200-troop commander wants everything in his control, so he does not like anything new happening. The general has 250 troops on standby but they are three days away. He has five days before the troops attack. He can move his troops anywhere in a circle around the commander's camp, taking two days. However, if there are more than 250 troops moving at once, the commander will notice, and immediately attack. What should the commander do in order to survive this fight?_

Mitsuru had to think for a while on this one. He glanced to the left. Hoshiko was thinking hard on a question. To the right, the other person was...done? Already? Mitsuru lightly shook his head. He needed to focus. After five minutes, he had completed the question, writing…

The general should first order his 250 troops to move to the camp. Once they arrive, he would have a total of 350 troops. Now, he can split his troops into seven groups of 50, and stage ambushes and direct confrontations. The 350 troops break up into seven groups and move to completely surround the camp. By this time, the commander would have noticed and will engage the general where they are splitting. By now, the troops that are not being attacked can confront the camp, taking it out while the troops closer to where the commander is now targeting will support that troop. The general will stay in the middle troop(which will also likely be the one that is attacked, and will have all messengers(except for six that he sends with the other groups) at his disposal to quickly convey orders. After these skirmishes, all seven troops will combine to attack whatever is remaining of the 200 troops of the enemy. By dividing resources, taking on small parts of the opponent, and then combining to form a massive force against the little that the opponent has left will lead to the general's victory... and a pay-raise.

He decided to include the pay-raise bit for a bit of humor for whoever would be grading his test. He turned in his test, sat back down, and rested, using his cloak as a pillow. When he woke up, everyone else was out and about talking to everyone else. However, around Mitsuru were four people. In the front, was the boy Mitsuru saw earlier.

"So," he said.

Rubbing his eyes, Mitsuru frantically asked, "What's going on? Is the test done?"

"Yeah," he replied, "and you got top score."

Startled, Mitsuru looked at where the boy was pointing, a black screen with names and a score ranking. It went something like this.

Mitsuru

Nazuko

Katsuo

Zerikonochi

Puo

Mitsuru grinned. Top score! Surely, that was something worth becoming a Chunin.

"Congrats. I'm the one in second, Kazuko," the boy said.

"Thanks, I'm gonna try finding my squad now, see ya!" Mitsuru replied, waving at Kazuko as he ran.

"Tch," Kazuko muttered.

"I thought the plan was to beat him up," one of the other boys said, dumbfoundedly.

"No, we should wait. He'll have a harsh awakening soon, anyway. Come on, let's go."

They stalked off.

"I'd watch your back, Mitsuru, cuz nobody's higher than me…." Kazuko muttered.

"Did ya say something?" another boy said.

"No."

After finding and discussing the test with Hoshiko and Katsuo (who seemed friendlier for some reason), Sasokami spoke again.

"Ok. The written exam has concluded. Congratulations to Mitsuru for top score."

There was applause and Mitsuru turned a bit red.

"Now, as dusk falls, we take precautions to prevent any further cheating or anything of the sort. We will create rooms for all of you. We advise you find something that isn't on the ground to hold on to."

As everyone frantically searched for something, Hoshiko tapped Mitsuru on the shoulder. Turning around, Mitsuru suddenly remembered the training.

"What?" he said coldly.

Strangely, she glanced at Katsuo in worry. Mitsuru wanted to accuse them of holding up his training, but he decided against it. They would apologize eventually.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted me to lift you in the air with my wind, I'll do it with Katsuo, too."

Reluctantly, Mitsuru complied.

Looking considerably happier, Hoshiko performed a couple hand seals and whispered, "Wind Hover Jutsu."

Nearly stumbling, Mitsuru saw something like a wide, small tornado underneath his feet. Katsuo and Hoshiko sat down on their's, so Mitsuru did the same. He heard the telltale yell of, "Earth Formation Jutsu!" Once wood, trees, rocks, and a few shinobi were dragged in, what was left was a massive stone tower.

"In there, you will find a bed, desk, some books, clothes, and water. Bathrooms will be on every floor near the end of the hallway. Food will be served at select times throughout the day. If needed, there is an infirmary at the ground floor. Your room will have your name on it."

All of the shinobi shuffled in. The next few hours of daylight mostly consisted of shinobi changing clothes, brushing teeth, chatting with friends, and other things.

Mitsuru couldn't get to the bathroom till it was almost eleven in the night. Everyone else in his corridor was asleep. He walked back to his room.

Suddenly, he shinobi instinct put him on edge. Someone was nearby. Mitsuru looked around.

"I'm here."

Mitsuru saw Nazuko, leaning on a wall.

"Jeez, dude you seriously scared me. Try not to do that again, alright?" Mitsuru chuckled, clutching his chest.

Nazuko didn't smile. Mitsuru stopped laughing and stared at Nazuko.

"I'll just be going now...I'll see you tomorrow."

He tried walking away, but only met two boys, standing there. Mitsuru looked at Nazuko, then realizing two boys also blocked the other end of the hall. He turned to Nazuko.

"What's going on here….?"

Nazuko smirked and stepped towards Mitsuru. Instinctually, Mitsuru took a step back.

"Let me tell you something, Mitsuru. No, let me teach you. You need a lesson of hierarchy. About class. Let's begin with you. You, Mitsuru, are nothing. You're just another shinobi, a drop in the bucket. There's nothing special about you. Well, sorry, I should give credit where it's due. You did get top score on the written exam. But that's it."

Mitsuru furrowed his brow. Where was all of this coming from?

"Then, there's me. Strong. Smart. Powerful."

He turned to me.

"The son of the Raikage."

Wide-eyed, Mitsuru stared at him. Lord Raikage? Could this really be his son?

"You might not believe it, but it's the truth. I am in a class far above you. I'm in the race for the throne of the Raikage, and I've got a huge head start. You? Nothing. You don't have anything that's really in your future. Again, just the truth."

Mitsuru had had enough.

"Please, don't make me laugh. You, the Raikage? You'd just lead the Hidden Cloud straight into the dirt that you are."

Nazuko stared at him, then smiled. His eyes were smoldering with fury.

"Well then, we've got a feisty animal here. Things like you need to be tranquilized…"

Mitsuru suddenly felt something wrap around his mouth. He tried to yell, but no sound went past the sheet. A fist lunged out of the dark, striking Mitsuru in the abdomen. He crumpled, falling to his knees, but was only brought back into the air by a kick. He got up, in a stupor, trying to focus. He had left his kunai and shuriken pack on his bed. If he could get in his room, then-

The thought was cut short by a staggering punch to the head. He crashed into the nearby wall, feeling blood streaming down his face. Standing up once more, he wanted to lash out, and fight back, but he couldn't move his arm. The impact of the wall must have broken it. Nazuko looked at him, with a cold smile on his face. Then, he slammed his fist down on Mitsuru's head, Mitsuru then on his knees, holding his head up.

"There we go, you're kneeling. You're kneeling before the next Raikage. I'll be a king. Who knows? Do this enough, and you just might become a jester in my palace. You'll have no other place in this world. You aren't strong-willed enough to be a shinobi."

He melted into the shadows once more. Mitsuru stayed on the ground for a while. Then, he got up, and walked to the infirmary. The nurse there was aghast with Mitsuru's appearance.

"Oh my goodness! Come inside, quickly! Do you remember who or what did this to you?" he said, frantically looking for some kind of way to stop the blood flow.

Mitsuru recalled Nazuko's last words to him.

"No, sir, I have no clue…."

~~~~~{}~~~~~

 **And that's it for this chapter! We hope you enjoyed reading. If it isn't clear by now, Izo and Mitsuru are different people, and their segments are split by the symbols.**

 **(I know there was some confusion with that earlier... so...)**

 **Anyway, please review this fic! It can only get better if we know what to work on, after all!**

 **Have a good day, and stay tuned for chapter 3! There's going to be something big for Izo in that chapter... Not to mention Mitsuru's Chunin Exams...**


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